Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently stated the obvious about the ongoing threat of radical Islamist terrorism poses to the U.S.
During an interview with Fox News’ Mark Levin, Gov. DeSantis expressed his concerns that the threat of terrorism, a threat, was realized on New Year’s Eve after a radicalized American killed 14 innocent people in New Orleans.
Gov. DeSantis also outlined that the federal government, namely the Biden administration, has made the radical islamist terrorism threat worse.
“We were in a world of hurt they were downplaying the threat of militant Islam, Donald Trump came in and was very strong against ISIS obviously much stronger on the border, but if you look at where we are now after four years of Biden. we're in way worse shape than we were even under Barack Obama,” said Gov. DeSantis.
DeSantis pointed to the open borders policy of the Biden administration as a cause for the increased threat but also blamed the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) for taking their eye off the ball.
‘Part of it is because, Yes, they've had the border wide open, which we know our enemies are taking advantage of, but then you've had the approach from our national security apparatus and institutions like the FBI they all must think, ohh well this Islamic terrorism that that that's so 2001 right it's like somehow it's not a threat anymore” added DeSantis. “They've spent more resources going after nonviolent protesters on January 6th. They focused a lot of attention on things like DEI and they downplay the threat that militant Islamic terrorism poses. It is still very real and I would argue probably in the last decade it's probably a greater threat today than it has been in the last decade.”
On November 23, 2023, FBI Director Christopher Wray penned an open letter to the House Committee on Homeland Security, warning it that Islamic terrorist threats to the U.S. were growing and that the agency was actively addressing real threats to Americans within the country.
In a year when the terrorism threat was already elevated, the ongoing war in the Middle East has raised the threat of an attack against Americans in the United States to a whole other level.
Since October 7th, we've seen a rogue’s gallery of foreign terrorist organizations call for attacks against Americans and our allies. Hizballah expressed its support and praise for Hamas and threatened to attack U.S. interests in the Middle East. Al-Qaida issued its most specific call to attack the United States in the last five years. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula called on jihadists to attack Americans and Jewish people everywhere. ISIS urged its followers to target Jewish communities in the United States and Europe.
Given those calls for action, our most immediate concern is that individuals or small groups will draw twisted inspiration from the events in the Middle East to carry out attacks here at home. That includes homegrown violent extremists inspired by a foreign terrorist organization and domestic violent extremists targeting Jewish Americans or other faith communities, like Muslim Americans.
Across the country, the FBI has been aggressively countering violence by extremists citing the ongoing conflict as inspiration. In Houston, we arrested a man who’d been studying bomb-making and posted about killing Jewish people. Outside Chicago, we’ve got a federal hate crime investigation into the killing of a six-year-old Muslim boy. At Cornell University, we arrested a man who threatened to kill members of that university’s Jewish community. And in Los Angeles, we arrested a man for threatening the CEO and other members of the Anti-Defamation League. I could go on.
On top of the so-called "lone actor" threat, we cannot—and do not—discount the possibility that Hamas or another foreign terrorist organization may exploit the current conflict to conduct attacks here, on our own soil…”—FBI Director Wray.
Senator Marco Rubio, who is expected to be confirmed as the next Secretary of State, also warned of growing Islamist threat withing the U.S. in an interview with The Floridian.
“When you are in the streets chanting things like “Intifada” or “From the River to the Sea” which are basically calling for attacking and killing Jews, said Sen. Rubio. “Just because you want to live in America doesn’t mean you don’t sympathize with Hamas. Just because you want to live in America doesn’t mean you’re pro-Western. Just because you want to live in America, and move to America, or immigrate to America, does not mean you’ve left behind your views about Israel.”
